


Well of Stars

by Selenic



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen, SGA Saturday Prompt Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-06
Updated: 2013-01-06
Packaged: 2017-11-23 21:56:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/626936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selenic/pseuds/Selenic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Jennifer was a child, she’d found an old dried up well a little way off from where they lived.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Well of Stars

**Author's Note:**

> For SGA Saturday Amnesty 201212, Week #59, prompt: Well
> 
> My mind usually tends to revolve around slash when writing, but sometimes my brain surprises me with something completely different. Hope you like what it came up with :) Started writing this for week #59, but didn't finish it on time! So posting for Amnesty.
> 
> Unbeta'd, all mistakes are mine. And since this is something new to me, I would love to hear what you thought of this, good or bad :) Crossposted [on LJ](http://selenic76.livejournal.com/11352.html).

Well of Stars

 

She had never thought of herself as brave, or adventurous. Yet here she was, further away from home than she could ever have imagined.

Jennifer Keller had never doubted her decision to become a doctor. Or to step through the Gate. Her new position as Chief Medical Officer of the Atlantis Expedition however, filled her with uncertainty. Jennifer knew she was a good doctor, one of the best to have been chosen to come here, but the added responsibilities were weighing heavily on her shoulders.

The day—or rather days, plural; she couldn’t remember when she had last slept—had been long. So many wounded, so many dead. They had saved people, but had lost them too, and no matter how she tried to be rational about it, it always got to her. Jennifer removed her gloves ands scrubs, tossing them in the biomedical waste bin, and sat down with a deep sigh.

People hadn’t really understood why Jennifer had chosen to become a doctor, though they knew she’d be going far after she got her Bachelor’s degree before her eighteenth birthday. Sometimes she wondered about her choice of occupation herself. But somehow—counting all the things that she found repugnant, revolting or repulsive—being around sick people or doing surgery up to her elbows in someone’s guts never seemed to faze her.

She couldn’t help it; she was a healer, it was her nature. It was who she was, always had been, starting from the stray animals she’d brought home, to little Maggie next door whose broken leg she had expertly splinted in the time it took the doctor to arrive.

In the next room, Doctor Biro had already finished her shift, and was writing the autopsy report of one of the marines who had died; a young man reduced to a wrinkled corpse by a Wraith. Jennifer would wait until she received reports from everyone else, before writing hers.

All she really wanted to do was to curl up in some dark corner and cry.

When Jennifer was a child, she’d found an old dried up well a little way off from where they lived. It wasn’t very deep and the walls were easy to climb so, on a sudden whim she decided to go down. The floor of the well was dry and sandy. The air smelled slightly musty, but on a hot summer day it felt soothingly cool against her skin, the cold stones keeping the temperature down. And it was quiet, the sounds of the world turning into muted murmur.

The enclosed space had felt oddly comfortable. She’d sat down, looking up at the brilliantly blue sky and sighed deeply, enjoying the silence. Jennifer had stayed there until night began to fall, and had made her parents sick with worry. They had told her not to go there again, fearing the walls might cave in, or she could fall and hurt herself.

Next time she’d brought along a flashlight, some sandwiches, a bottle of water, and a blanket, and waited until she could see the stars. And Jennifer had fell in love with them.

The well became a place of solace, one she would sometimes retreat to even when she grew older. Seeing those faraway lights always eased the burden of her earthly troubles. They reminded her, that the universe was vast, and there were worlds beyond the one she inhabited. And now she was living on one of them.

Closing her eyes for a moment, contemplating whether to get coffee—since morning was only a few hours away anyways—or go to her quarters and try to get some sleep, she wondered if her well still existed or if the walls had finally crumbled under the hands of time.

“Dr. Keller, are you alright?” a gentle voice asked, as a warm hand landed on Jennifer’s shoulder. Blinking a few times, her gaze focused on the source of this unexpected compassion; Doctor Biro was uncharacteristically quiet, her normal joyful babble replaced by a quiet but kind smile.

“I’m... fine,” was all Jennifer managed to respond, but apparently her stance and expression told another story. Biro shook her head silently. Then her hand took hold of Jennifer’s arm, determinately coaching her to stand up.

“Come on, I’ve got something to show you,” she said cheerfully, even though she must have been just as exhausted as Jennifer was. Too tired to resist properly, Jennifer just groaned while her feet dragged her forwards.

Once outside the infirmary, Biro began her familiar bubbly chatter. Through corridors, transporters and staircases, she recounted gossip she had heard, shared her opinion on the cafeteria’s insufficient selection of anything freshly baked, noted how the City seemed to hum differently at night, and eventually led Jennifer to a half opened door. It appeared to be broken, the worn and scraped segments pushed ajar just enough for someone to fit through. Beyond the gap was darkness. Biro entered, her voice trailing off into the gloom. “Just a little further!” she shouted before disappearing completely.

Cautiously Jennifer slid past the opening. The short tunnel ahead was very dimly lit by light emanating from the other end, barely enough to detect the lines of a doorway. Running her fingers along the coarse cold wall as she walked, Jennifer breathed in the musty scent of the air, and stepped into...

A well. There was no other word that she could use to describe the large cylindrical room, dominated by the huge skylight dome opening out into the stars of the foreign galaxy.

Eyes wide, trying to hold back tears but failing, Jennifer stared at the glow of them.

“This is where I come to be quiet,” Biro whispered softly. There was a thin mattress on the floor, as well as a blanket and a few pillows. “Occasionally to take a nap as well.” Sitting down on one end of the makeshift bed, Biro motioned for Jennifer to join her. She even managed to find a slightly crumpled but clean paper towel from some pocket for Jennifer to wipe her nose with. 

Jennifer took the place offered, and let herself lean on the warm shoulder of the person beside her. And for the first time, Atlantis felt like home.

“’Thank you,” Jennifer whispered, grateful for every ounce of the unexpected compassion she had received. 

They sat on the floor, gazing at the lights of distant worlds, and didn’t speak until dawn.

 

~~~ End ~~~

 


End file.
